Katt Williams - another ghettofabulous victim

So my sister made me aware that one of the current top stand-up comedians was just arrested. If you haven't heard about this, it was Katt Williams (real name Micah Williams) - again.

Now I realize that Williams did a great thing in adopting 7 children - all from the U.S., because as he said on the Tonight Show

"I got my kids right here, I didn’t have to go to Africa to do it. Amazingly enough, there are needy kids right down the street."

I do respect that, and I can imagine that he has many of the same problems that drove Jon & Kate Gosselin crazy, on-going in his own home.

I can understand why he chose to follow his dream of being a comedian, instead of following-up a chance for higher education. Understand, not respect.

And I'm as happy that his career has come together, as I am for almost any entertainer. But none of this excuses the fact that Katt Williams is ghettofabulous. And that's all he his. Thus I was not surprised by his arrest for buglary.

I'm sure I will be told how unfair I am. ok. Doesn't change a thing. Because I just notice that every entertainer that uses the ghettofabulous theme as a means of making their money, winds up arrested for something stupid. Often.

Now it could be that Williams needs to be medicated or otherwise under medical care. But I don't know. It's hard to connect a burglary and a need to speak to a shrink. Especially when, to all apparent sources, Williams and his family are not about to starve.

Maybe I should feel bad. But honestly, I think its the karma of being ghettofabulous coming back at him. Like it does to everyone that follows that ill-conceived line of thinking.

Akon assualts minor and get community service

Talk about the mixed messages rappers and the like are sending to kids today. Akon just got off scott-free and Soulja Boy is apologizing for his vulgar language. But overall I have to wonder why entertainers today seem so much more like children that never grew up than ever before.

Well maybe not all entertainers, that would be unfair. But in the world of hip hop and rap it seems to be exactly true. I mean how many times has DMX, Snoop Dogg, TI, and the rest been arrested? And I can more readily count the rappers that don't use foul language, on and off stage, since 1992 on one hand that do use it. Add to that the constant use and glorification of drugs and abuse of women. And these are the people I observe little kids reciting songs of and dancing to. But they aren't responsible for any negative consequences, of course.

But I don't understand how Akon, Aliaune Thiam, got his plea bargain. He admitted to throwing a minor off a stage and into a crowd at a concert. There was video tape of the event. There were officers standing next to him. His guilt was never in question.



Yet he got 65 hours of community service and a fine of $250. He apologized to the minor and his parents. That's it. Hello! Endangering the life of a minor and assault and he got just that with witnesses and video tape? Let a regular person try half that and guess how long you'll be in jail.

I have to believe that the only reason he walked on this is that some serious hush money went to the family. It may not be recorded as part of the plea but I bet it happened. That seems the only way an obviously guilty as sin Akon isn't in a jail cell awaiting his lawsuit date. And the woman that was struck by the child he threw into the crowd probably got a piece of that cake too. Because I can't see any jury not approving damages for that.

No wonder kids today want to be rappers instead of getting an education or a career. In the rap hip hop industry it is possible to live like a vulgar sleezy Peter Pan. Laws are parted like a knife through butter. Excesses of drugs and alcohol are ignored. Promiscuity is promoted from music video shoots to the stage and beyond. Hell, rock n' roll stars don't get all this treatment (well not as often, and not always to the benefit of record sales). This is the one industry where being a slovenly pig is an accolade and cash generator. Why grow up?

The Fishkill prosecutor and judge have failed the public. Not just their community but the nation. They have supported the idea that thugs succeed in the "ghettofabulous" lifestyle they glorify. That all their abuses of law and people is justified by the fact they have a marginal debatable skill. And because of this no child and no parent has won.

This was not justice. This was money. Because of the money involved justice was perverted and we the public have been sullied.

Do we need to see Who's Your Caddy? - 7.16.2007.1

I was in the movies recently (seeing Harry Potter) and I noticed a couple of movies coming up. One of them I had to double check and see other trailers. That movie was Who’s Your Caddy? The title makes you think golf, and perhaps a comedy. I’m sure that was what whoever wrote and directed this was intending. Sadly, they seemed to have missed the mark.

The fact is that Who’s Your Caddy? is apparently a cheap remake of Caddyshack. The fact that it’s a remake doesn’t mean that it’s bad. The storyline, as featured by the trailers says it is. All the elements are there, rich guy wants to play golf because he loves the game. Another rich guy that has an obnoxious attitude and is anal-retentive refuses to let him join. The first guy strives to join the exclusive membership and a golf match is setup to determine which of the 2 stay. That’s Caddyshack. The changes are that the protagonist is black, the humor has devolved to include large helpings of body humor, and there are gratuitous scenes of women gyrating. Oh, and a love story that sounds weak, and a hidden talent at playing golf. Help me.

Could they remake Caddyshack with African Americans and have it be a good movie? Sure they can, if they spent some money on the writing. They didn’t. Could it still be worth watching with a less than great script? Sure, if they had good directing. Seems like they missed on that too.

I have no problem that the film is based on a rapper that has done very well for himself. He has money, cool. He has an entourage that seems to be less than bright, not so cool. The one guy is so dumb that when someone asks to get Johnny Cochrane involved (which in itself was stupid) and they are told he is dead (Newsflash!) the black guy thinks that one of them killed him. Please. In another part we see that there is a music video, and the women of course are music video girls, and have to be in tops that are skimpy and clothes that are too tight. What could be the motivation for having Mr. Faizon Love fart like a foghorn? You must be kidding right? Oh, don’t forget the required ghettoized golf cart.

It’s a collection of juvenile jokes. That could still be good but they could have made it so much more. Yet I have to imagine that the executives involved in greenlighting this movie figured a couple of things. First, they have a rapper/entertainer in the movie (Big Boi of Outkast). That will attract the hip hop and rap music fans. It’s a pro-black, large African American cast which will ensure that a good percentage of Blacks will see it no matter what. Third the cost of the film is really low so there is no real risk.

It’s basically the same formula used in Soul Plane. Cheap film (about $5 million) featuring African Americans, with a low quality script, makes about $35 million in the movies even after the massive number of bootleg DVDs made on it. Then it gets to an official DVD and On Demand on cable. Maybe another $5 million there. The execs could care less how ghettofabulous or silly the African American culture is portrayed. They got their money and they are satisfied.

This movie looks to be beneath everyone involved from the look of it. I’d like to think I’m wrong, but considering trailers tend to be the best 30 seconds or so of a movie the outlook is bleak.

This is what I think, what do you think?